As we have discussed in class several times, EBB maintains artists’ and, more specifically, the poet’s role in speaking truth and reinvigorating the desire for justice. Writing during the Austria-Hungary occupation of Italy, these sentiments are perhaps best-captured in Part II when she writes, “Poets are soothsayers still, like those of old / Who studied flights of doves,—and creatures young / And tender, mighty meanings, may unfold” (739-41). Before this proclamation, she expresses the Italian citizenry’s desire for independence and national identity, and she calls on the nations of the world to recognize the injustices within the historical moment, that Italy needs the collective action of nations to actualize their desires of unification. In Part I, she appeals to the nations of Europe by drawing from Italy’s rich artistic and historical heritage to prove the worthiness of such an expedition that is similar to Stael’s character Corinne assuming the persona of a sibylline character, and it is arguable that EBB’s stance is as much a continuation as a reaction against Corinne.
In assuming the dissemination of her work, EBB compels European nations to become conscious of Italy’s rich artistic heritage, positioning it as refreshing the mind’s eye, reminding people of the beauty in the world. In doing so, she implores both the Italian citizenry and other European nations to defend the beauty of those gifts. She writes, “And the tradition of your act and mine…Shall gather up, for unborn men, and sign / Of what is the true princedom,—ay, and none / Shall laugh that day, except the drunk with wine” (140, 142-44). Although drawing from the account of Michelangelo and Pietro de Medici, she uses the story as a way to argue that artists become the producers and preservers of a universal heritage, that humankind bears a responsibility of maintaining that inheritance, to participate and contribute to the desire of Italian unification and independence.
In assuming the dissemination of her work, EBB compels European nations to become conscious of Italy’s rich artistic heritage, positioning it as refreshing the mind’s eye, reminding people of the beauty in the world. In doing so, she implores both the Italian citizenry and other European nations to defend the beauty of those gifts. She writes, “And the tradition of your act and mine…Shall gather up, for unborn men, and sign / Of what is the true princedom,—ay, and none / Shall laugh that day, except the drunk with wine” (140, 142-44). Although drawing from the account of Michelangelo and Pietro de Medici, she uses the story as a way to argue that artists become the producers and preservers of a universal heritage, that humankind bears a responsibility of maintaining that inheritance, to participate and contribute to the desire of Italian unification and independence.